Stavanger, Norway

Stavanger, Norway
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vaagen-modf.jpg
Author: Odd Inge Worsøe


Stavanger is the fourth largest city in Norway. Located in Rogaland county, it covers 71 sq km (27.4 sq mi) and has a population of 126,000.

Stavanger is really a city built by petroleum. Although there is evidence of human habitation in the area going back to the Viking Age (around the 8th century), Stavanger remained a small fishing village, where the people worked as fishermen dependent on fishing for sardines, until the 2nd half of the 20th century, when oil was discovered in the North Sea. Since then, it has become the Petroleum Capital of Norway.

Stavanger Old Town, Norway
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stavanger_%28quartier_traditionnel%29.JPG
Author: Florian Pépellin


The earliest mention of Stavanger was in AD 872. It became a market town by the 12th century. In its early days, it was a religious center, particularly after the Stavanger Cathedral was built in 1100. However its role as a center for the Roman Catholic faith was extinguished with the Protestant Reformation in 1536.

By the late 19th and early 20th century, Stavanger prospered on the fishing and shipbuilding industries. The canning of fish, particularly sardines, became big business here, and can still be glimpsed from the museum devoted to the industry in Stavanger today. However, by the mid 20th century, the cannery business was in decline, just in time as petroleum provided a new lifeline for the town.

St Petri Church, Stavanger
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sankt_Petri_church2.JPG
Author: Helge Høifødt

Visiting Stavanger

Stavanger is just 20 minutes from Sola Airport (SVG), which receives flights from London Heathrow, Glasgow, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Aberdeen, Warsaw, Gdańsk, and Berlin, among others. From the airport, you can take the shuttle bus to downtown Stavanger.

Alternatively, you can also take the train from Oslo. However, the journey will consume 9 hours.

Sights & Attractions in Stavanger

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.